Winner of Kyrgyz elections willing to develop relations with Russia

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12/10 Tass 95

BISHKEK, October 12 (Itar-Tass) -- The Ata Zhur (Native Land) Party,
which won the parliamentary elections held in Kyrgyzstan on Sunday, is
going to expand presidential powers, Myktybek Abdyldayev, the leader of
Ata Zhur, told Itar-Tass on Tuesday.
According to Abdyldayev, the Kyrgyz Constitution was amended after the
referendum, held in the republic last June, as a result of which the
powers of the head of state were perceptibly curtailed, and some of them
were passed over to the parliament and the cabinet of ministers. "We plan
to raise the question in parliament about the changing of the fundamental
law, but not the whole of it, only of Article 46, which deals with
presidential powers. We need a strong president, a strong government and a
strong parliament," he stressed.
Abdyldayev assured that Ata Zhur would do its best for further
developing cooperation with Russia. "We are the only party, whose
programme has a special chapter on cooperation with Russia. We are going
to put our plans into effect," he said. Abdyldayev believes that the two
countries could effectively develop cooperation in hydro power engineering
and in the mining industry.
Commenting on a possibility of the formation of a parliamentary
coalition, Abdyldayev said that, in principle, Ata Zhur was willing to
develop partner relations with other parties, which have qualified for the
parliament. This is true of the Ar Namys (Dignity) political association
and the Social Democratic Party, headed by two ex-prime ministers - Felix
Kulov and Almazbek Atambayev.
"Ata Meken (Fatherland) Party is the only one at the moment,
cooperation with which does not seem probable," Abdyldayev continued.
He admitted that consultations on the formation of a coalition had
been held with the leaders of other parties before the elections.
-0-rom/ast